AN: So…I'll be honest when I say I've only seen one episode of Furuba, and I've never read the manga. But I've researched it from way back when and I fell in love. Ayame was my automatic interest. So I took him and mixed it with my horrible style of 'dark/tragic' writing…Though that name doesn't sound appropriate, but whatever. Tell me what you think!
Snake in the Grass
He wasn't sure what drew him to her. She wasn't gorgeous, she wasn't bold, she wasn't unique. Everything about her was too plain, too ordinary, too normal.
Maybe she was too kind, and he couldn't help but take advantage of that.
Nobody can resist a nice person, he reasoned. They pry into you with those pleading eyes, full of warmth and mirth. Who could say no?
And Yuki had told him, 'You really are the villain.'
- - -
No matter how much time he took in avoiding her, she always found some way back to him, always smiling, always so damn persistent. Didn't she notice the two who pined after her as if their life depended on it? She was being selfish!
And Shigure had told him, 'You secretly want it.'
No longer was he bright and happy, but he was calm, contemplative, and quiet. His amber eyes would gaze forever out the window and ponder over things. People told him he was the one who kept pulling her, guiding her back to him.
How?
She was too nice. That was all there was to it.
'You keep pulling at me,' Tohru had whispered, eyes filled with a strange sort of emotion. 'How far will you go? How much will you hurt me?'
'I'd never hurt you.' He promised.
His fingers must've been crossed.
- - -
She can see the moon's rays on the wooden floor of her room. A pale, white arm is draped across her waist though the contact is limited. Otherwise, he'd turn into the snake. She almost laughs outright at the thought. She was coming to her senses.
Every little promise he made, every comforting word he had ever told her made her feel like a tiny part of her was dying. A tiny, insignificant part.
The worst part is, she realizes, is that she knew a long time ago.
Who is the corrupt one?
The one who denies or the one who masquerades?
- - -
He has left his home, the place that he knew. His shop is deserted, and he doesn't care. That girl would kill him if he didn't do something about it.
And the only answer was for him to pick up his bags and leave. Leave this godforsaken place that threatened to damage him beyond repair.
No note, no warning, no farewell. He was on the next train to ignorance, where he could forget a girl named Tohru ever existed. He could forget the smiles that warmed him his cold blood, he could forget the very thing that threatened him.
Nobody ever threatens a snake.
Nobody.
- - -
There is no peace for those who do wrong. Every where he goes, there is a ghost of her flitting by, whispering against his neck, reminding him of all the promises he had kept, and the small one he forgot to keep.
'You can't forget me, you don't want to forget me,' she taunts.
The door to his house is always locked, for fear that one day she will walk through with a tray of tea, settle down next to him, and speak all those unspoken thoughts. He wants to see her, but he doesn't want to be reminded.
- - -
He wants to go back to the start. He wants to tell her everything, all the thoughts he kept bottled up in a jar so dusty, no one could see them. The gates of sanity are opening their doors for him, telling him to hurry up before it's too late.
But he was late since the beginning.
Too much time has been wasted on walking forward and sprinting back. Thoughts have tied him down, kept him rooted to a spot where no light can touch and no water can revive.
The house is empty, it doesn't feel like his own.
Without questioning it, he saunters over to her room, slides open the door and slides inside. Turning around, he slides it shut, shielding him away from the world. Everybody saw the connection except him, now it was his turn to keep her all to himself, away from those who were too cowardly to hurt her back.
She is gone. The room is bare, except for a small futon that sits in the corner, rolled up from way before.
He isn't sad.
She has left her mark here. She was living proof that even the pure can become corrupted.
All she had to do was smile at the snake in the grass.
- - -
'Would you ever hurt me?' She whispers into his ear.
'I think you've done all the damage.'
'And how would you explain that?'
'You brought kindness.'